Shane Lowry lost the solo lead at the British Open thanks to one disastrous shot on Friday. He also lost his cool at a cameraman.
The Irishman held a two-shot cushion at seven under par when his tee shot on No. 11 at Royal Troon found the right rough. Lowry didn’t look to be in too bad of a spot, but that quickly changed when his second shot went dead left into the gorse. And let’s just say he was NOT happy about the situation. Earmuffs, kids!
We can’t blame Lowry for getting so heated if he was really affected by someone walking during his swing. This is the freaking OPEN, after all. And you’d have to think something put him off to hit a smother hook like that after looking in complete control for the first 28 holes of the tournament.
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In a strange twist, Lowry probably wasn’t too thrilled with a fan who found his golf ball moments later, either. Thinking it was gone, Lowry played a great provisional shot that would have left him about a 12-footer for bogey. Instead, he had to ditch the provisional, and take an unplayable with his original ball—a situation that caused more than a 20-minute delay. Lowry wound up making double bogey to drop back to five under and into a share of the lead.
Anyway, if you’re a cameraman following Lowry’s group—in particular, that cameraman—be extra careful out there.
UPDATE: Lowry bounced back by not dropping a shot the rest of the day. And he birdied 16 and 18 to get back to 18 under and in the lead by himself. After, he was able to laugh about his reaction on 11 during a TV interview. And he added this when he met with the media.
“Just there was a cameraman there, and he was walking up, and I asked him to stop or move back, and he just kind of stayed there,” Lowry said. “As it was over, he put his camera up. I kind of saw it out of the corner of my eye, and I should stood off it, my own fault.”
Hey, it happens. Regardless, Lowry has to love his situation heading into the weekend.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com